Just bought a house, what are some of the first things you guys would do/change when you move in?

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1. Added some cameras and got a scary dog, so security was taken care of quickly

2. A good espresso machine and a great shower head

3. If you don’t have one already, get a programmable thermostat. It’ll save you tons. Also, think about getting a backup power source for when the power goes out

4. – smart thermostats
   – smart garage door openers

   Then wait a year and keep a list of annoyances.

5. If you live in a cold area, you might consider a wood burning stove if one isn’t already installed.

6. The very first thing I did at every apartment or house was replace all the light bulbs with new LED light bulbs.

7. I’d get it decorated and furnished to my taste then get to work on the garden.

   Personally, I avoid newbuilds like the plague. Too flimsy and flammable

8. blackout blinds for every window make sure they have a lip going around the top and sides to prevent light bleeding in. Smart plugs and a quality extension cord. Cameras for your parameter and entry ways. Automatic flood lights (blackout blinds will save your eyes while sleeping). If you want to treat yourself, invest in the best quality equipment you can for your hobbies or down time, I watch a fair amount of movies and play video games so I bought an LG C1 (arguably the best TV you could buy at the time next to the Sony X95J), things like this will make the time you spend with and in your hobbies much more enjoyable. You have the house so why not fill it up with things you like and things that make living that bit more enjoyable.

9. The door lock and add extra security to the doors and windows.

10. wait until the 1 yr warranty is over before you paint.

11. Put up blinds. House has 15 windows. Took all day

12. Before moving in: rekey or change the locks, paint, and refinish the floors/replace the carpets as needed.

13. Yard- new builds come with limited landscaping. I would identify what you want to use your yard for and move backwards. An example:

    *I want to use my back yard primarily as entertainment. To serve that purpose you’ll want to setup areas for people to sit or lounge- you’ll want to add privacy from neighbors and likely lighting. If your yard is an open, grassy, blank space consider trees, hedges, and other devices to block views and increase likelihood of use.

    *I want to use my back yard primarily as a vegetable garden. To serve this purpose you’d want to have excellent light, so stuff that’ll block light might be a problem. If you don’t have a lawn irrigation system how will you do irrigation, if you where is it and how can you use it to your advantage. Where can you put fruiting trees and bushes? How to keep animals out?

    *I want a yard that’s super low maintenance- consider getting native plants that already thrive without a lot of fuss or a clover or creeping thyme lawn that don’t need mowing or hardscaping.

    *I want a yard for my kids/dogs to play- dogs in particular are brutal on grass and their pee can kill sections or yellow them… some people use bark mulch on the area that their pet pees in most frequently and give up on grass for that area. Kid play equipment is frequently underutilized for its price so keep that in mind.

    From deciding a primary purpose I would then note light conditions, walk around your neighborhood and grab photos of plants and use a plant identification app to help identify the ones you like and go from there.

14. Wiring. I like wired Ethernet to entertainment areas, office areas, etc. Depending on how dense the community is it can help eliminate WIFI issues.

15. New shelf paper.

16. Buy a ~$200 thermal camera with a digital display and look at where you need to insulate (particularly during the winter/summer) – I.e. if the windows are drafty, or just the walls, vents, etc. – surprising how much it can point out stuff that’s odd

17. Will definitely differ between people, these are some things we got after moving back in september:

    – slow cooker

    – rice cooker

    – treadmill

    – Ikea lamps, shelving, coat hangers, LED light strips, treated glass sealable tupperware

    – art to fill some wall space (2001 Space odyssey movie poster, a few displates, some UV tapestries)

    – cutting boards, good chef knife

    – blacklights, so many blacklights

    – houseplants with long vines, and several colored grow lamps

18. Change the flooring or carpeting now before you move in.

19. Put in new toilets, right height/long bowl. New toilets are much nicer than older stuff and unlike most builder grade toilets they clog a lot less. Spending $300 on a new toilet and never having to use a plunger is well worth it.

20. If you don’t have it already, ethernet. Wireless is okay for most stuff but the very first thing I do when I get a house (3 times already) is hire a low voltage contractor to install ethernet by every TV, every place you will put an access point, and every place where a computer can potentially be plugged in (rooms, offices, kitchen). You’d be surprised how much better internet appliances run with a wired connection. Then get a switch and tie it all together. Wireless APs work much better with a wired connection for broadcasting (see Ubiquiti access points for some quality APs.

21. Robotic vacuum. We own two – a Neato D3 and D7. The D3 is in the basement (carpeted) and runs every morning at 3 AM. The D7 is upstairs (hardwood) and runs every day at 11 AM. With 2 dogs (blue heeler and lab), we have to empty the dirt bins about every 3-4 days, but they stay on top of the hair and dust to the point that we never need to use our ‘regular’ vacuum. Buy it now and stay on top of it from the start. I like the shape of the Neato models over the ’round’ ones – the Neato gets into corners better.

    Smart lights can be fun and extremely helpful – we have a routine set that automatically turns the lights on at 4:30 AM in the living room and kitchen, but at the dimmest setting they can do. That way, when my wife gets up for work, she can ‘wake up’ before getting hit with full brightness lights. The lights in our outdoor fixtures are color-changing Hue bulbs, that I set white most of the year, and then change colors to match the holidays – they are also linked to a motion sensor, so they can be dim most of the night, but go full brightness when motion is detected.

    Smart thermostat – we have an ecobee, and paired it with a HomeAssistant server for better control over home/away behavior.

    I personally do NOT recommend smart locks. I don’t trust the security of them. We do have a digital lock on our walk-in door to the garage, but it is not a smart lock. I have not carried a key for our walk-in doors for 4 years. (Which did prove to be a problem when I had a small stroke and forgot the code) That being said, I am breaking my own rule because we do have the add-on ‘smart’ kit for our garage door – but I can simply unplug the hub for that to disable it.

    ​

    We also did just recently install a motorized window shade in our kitchen. Pricey, but if I had the $$ every window in the house would have them. Got the room darkening, double cell cellulous model. Optimally, I’d like to have every window with them, linked into my HomeAssistant setup so all the non-bedroom ones automatically open at a certain time in the morning, and they all automatically close in the evening.

22. If you don’t have to move in right away after possession, paint any rooms you want painted before moving in. It’s so much easier to paint when there is no furniture to move out of the way. I recently bought a house and the first thing I did was paint all the bedrooms.

    Second thing I did was replace the blinds in the bedrooms, upgraded from cheap vinyl venetian blinds to some nice wooden ones. They look better and they block out more light.

23. We moved in to our 2200sf ranch a couple weeks after we got married in 2001. Full, but unfinished, basement. Within a week I was down there putting in another door because the idiots who built the place put the door at the bottom of the stairs, but on the left wall instead of straight ahead. It was impossible to get anything longer than 6’ into the basement which made my plans to finish it problematic to say the least.

    2 years, 1200 2×4’s, 120 4×8 sheets of drywall, and a whole lot of work later, finished it was!

24. Locks. First & foremost.

25. We did a fence and built a shed, also an irrigation system. Did a landscape feature too, but that was later.

26. Smart garage door opener. Can check from your phone whether you left the door open, remotely close it, set a time at night to auto close it if open.

27. A grill. Not much better than cooking a juicy steak or fajitas in your backyard. I prefer charcoal but pellet one works well too.

28. When we bought our house the bathroom sinks were crappy pressed steel that was enameled. I replaced them all with ceramic china sinks. The faucets were cheap so I replaced them with ones that cost 3 times the original’s price.

    The kitchen sink was stainless steel but it was not deep enough so that also got replaced. The range hood was a wimpy joke so that also got replaced.